Companies are flocking to social media and crowdsourcing platforms in the hopes of finding cheaper or more effective ways to market their wares. This is understandable for we all need to make a living, however, I think the real promise of social media is bigger than just a financial transaction. People give their time and money for reasons above and beyond financial gain.

Crowdfunding site Kickstarter is a great example of non-financial motives for giving. Kickstarter is a platform to fund creative ideas. It is not investing, project creators retain complete ownership of their projects.

“Project creators inspire people to open their wallets by offering products, benefits and fun experiences.”

The great thing is that people do fund projects for “fun experiences.” There are many people completely willing to part with a little cash in order to play a small role in a community. And yes, each project is a community because like minded individuals are connecting around a single idea.

At the time of writing this post, Bud Caddell has attracted $6377 in funding from 88 backers for his book project, The Bucket Brigade: How Everything in the Attention Economy Actually Works and 10 Rules to Profit from it. Pledges of $25 or more get their name and URL in the book. More than $100 earns editorial membership. Backing of more than $500 gets “special attention from me (Caddell) far beyond the production of this book.”

Think about that for a moment, if you donate more than $100 you also get to edit the book for free. Caddell’s successful funding proves that money isn’t the only motivator. I think this is a positive and very powerful cultural advancement. Some professional connections and engagements are more valuable than a mere financial exchange.

That to me is the real power of social media. We are connecting around ideas and beliefs and not only trying to sell each other something. As we develop as societies and continue to climb Maslow’s Hierarcy, money is becoming less of a motivator.

Caddell was only asking for $5000 in funding, which is not a lot of money to write, edit and publish a book. Clearly it is not only about the money for him either. Lumi Co. on Kickstarter said,

“Kickstarter is an incredible platform. Its obvious purpose is funding, but we find ourselves gaining so much outside of collecting pledges. For us, Kickstarter has been a powerful tool to connect with a community passionate about our work.”

Many of us blog, upload videos and pictures, contribute to open source projects like Wikipedia and Linux with little or zero financial benefit. There is definitely more to life than money. Being part of a community and connecting with fellow humans has value in and of itself. We really are putting the ’social’ into social media.

Thanks to Edward Boches for inspiring this post.

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How do you market your business in this age of social media? There is no denying the impact of online marketing and social media but I think many companies are doing it wrong. The best social media strategy in the world is not going to help a poor quality business. On the other hand, companies that deliver amazing service probably don’t need to invest much in social media because their ardent fans will market their business for free. I think the Canadian printing company JukeBox Print Shop is one of those fantastic companies doing everything right.

I just ordered a rush order of business cards from JukeBox Print Shop and was completely amazed at the quality of service at every stage of the ordering process. This level of customer service and quality were so out-standing that I sent an email to thank them. Here is the text of that email:

Hello,

I am thoroughly impressed with the entire process of getting my rush order of business cards.

1. Your well designed and clearly organized website was the first surprise. There are so many graphic design companies who don’t even bother to maintain an appealing and updated website.
2. Your customer service staff were  very knowledgeable and helpful. I needed the cards quickly so I called several times to see what my options were and that it was possible to deliver by my short deadline. Your staff knew your product very well and clarified everything. It is so rare to find customer service reps that actually know and care about their company’s products.
3. Despite sending in my designs just before closing on a Friday, I still received the PDF proofs for verification minutes later.
4. Your email notifications and website kept me updated on exactly what stage my order was in. A minor misunderstanding was corrected in my order within minutes online.
5. The cards were delivered on time, exactly as promised, for half the price of local printers. Even the card stock you offered was thicker at this already discounted price.

You have a fantastic company. I have no doubt that you will be very successful. Congratulations on everything you have accomplished.

A very happy customer,
John Bardos

I was already extremely satisfied with my order of 250 of their inexpensive business cards, however JukeBox Print took it to the next level. In order to thank me for my email, they have offered 1,250 premium business cards for free.

I told my story with JukeBox Print in a presentation in front of 80 people, I have written this post, I have told everyone who will listen and I tweeted about the company several times with more to come. Is my promotion worth 1,250 free business cards? I am already planning my next order and several of my contacts are interested in using JukeBox Print in the future. I think their generous offer will pay off many times in the near future.

The key lesson is that social media is about the conversation. Real support from dedicated fans can be invaluable promotion and it can’t be faked. Companies should focus on delivering great products with exceptional customer service, then the online marketing will almost take care of itself.

Now go order some business cards or other print products, you won’t be disappointed. Of course, I am not getting paid to say any of this. JukeBox Print Shop is that good.

What do you think; should companies invest in great customer service before social media?

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What does it take to find a job in this economy? Does sending out generic emails out to hundreds of companies work? How about using the popular employment sites and applying for all jobs vaguely interesting? You can’t differentiate yourself by doing what everyone else is doing.

$6 on Google Adwords to Get Your Dream Job

Alec Brownstein landed two job offers for his dream job with a $6 investment in Google Adwords advertising targeting the names of top New York creative directors. Watch the short video to see.

Create your Own Dream Job

Any sane business owner will happily offer employment to anyone who can prove they can offer more value than they cost. Unfortunately, larger businesses are not particularly sane. Focus on smaller, entrepreneurial companies and you just may be able to create any job you want. Check out Charlie Hoehn’s free SlideShare ebook to see how he managed to work with Seth Godin,  Ramit Sethi of Iwillteachyoutoberich.com, Tim Ferriss of The Four Hour Workweek and movie director Tucker Max.

Forget a Resume

Seth Godin wrote in his latest book Linchpin

Having a resume begs for you to go into that big machine that looks for relevant keywords and begs for you to get a job as a cog in a giant machine.

Godin goes on to say,

If you don’t have a resume, what do you have?

How about three extraordinary letters of recommendations from people the employer knows or respects?

Or a sophisticated project an employer can see or touch?

Or a reputation that precedes you?

Or a blog that is so compelling and insightful that they have no choice but to follow up?

Some say, “Well , that’s fine, but I don’t have those.”

Yeah, that’s my point. If you don’t have these things, what leads you to believe that you are remarkable, amazing, or just plain spectacular?

It sounds to me like if you don’t have more than a resume, you’ve been brainwashed into compliance.
Great jobs, world-class jobs, jobs people kill for – those jobs don’t get filled by people e-mailing in resumes.

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This is another brilliant idea via Seth Godin, PDF Micro-Magazines.

Here is what Seth Godin wrote:

While there are still people hoping to make a living writing a blog (not as a tool for something else, but as an end into itself), that’s awfully difficult to do. Micro-magazines, on the other hand, feel very different to me. They have elements that make them very attractive to advertisers and readers.

I’ll define one as:

• Being digital (probably a PDF), that’s free to ‘print’, fast to make and easy to share. (Newsweek spends seventeen million dollars a year on paper.)
• Having subscribers, either by email or RSS
• Focused on issues that appeal to some, but not all
• Having a very specific audience (call it a tribe)
• Enabling that tribe to connect by sharing the ideas in the magazine among them, as well as supporting it with a forum or blog
• Containing ads that are relevant to that audience
• Being longer than 140 characters or even a blog post, so significant ideas can be exposed in detail

Godin also has found a perfect example of one of these Micro-Magazines, Fear.less. The PDF magazine has a beautiful design and professional quality articles. Truly a fantastic business model for so many niches.

RSS feeds and blogs are a good fast way to get information but there is definitely a need for professional level content somewhere in the middle between magazines and blogs. This is a great opportunity for aspiring publisher/ entrepreneurs. This format is also likely to reach a much larger audience of readers who are not comfortable with social media yet. It is a familiar magazine format, except it is delivered digitally. Advertising definitely makes sense for targeted publications like this.

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Kristina Halvorson on BrainTraffic has a great post on why content strategy is gaining popularity so fast.

Content strategy is more or less on the same trajectory as social media was three years ago. Why?

I think it’s because the reality of social media initiatives—that they’re internal commitments, not advertising campaigns—has derailed more than a few organizations from really implementing effective, measurable programs. Most companies can’t sustain social media engagement because they lack the internal editorial infrastructure to support it.

They don’t have a content strategy.

Effective social media campaigns take a lot of work because there are no short cuts to building meaningful relationships. Businesses need to create a lot of real value before first before the sales pitches. Trust is everything and that only comes with lots of valuable content.

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If you want to market a new book, or anything for that matter,  traditional advertising is dead. Paying big money to interrupt people when they are not paying attention is just stupid.

Seth Godin, the same marketing genius that gave away a book for free, packaged a book in a cereal box and consistently reinvents marketing forever is at it again. You just can’t keep a great mind down. There is no doubt that his new book, Linchpin: Are you Indispensable is going to be a runaway best seller.

Now, I don’t have a book to publish yet, but if I did I would definitely follow Sir Seth Godin’s tactics.

Step 1 Write a brilliant book and choose a brilliant cover.

The book has to be about one main idea that people can immediately understand and know that it will change their lives forever. The cover of a book is everything, and Sir Godin went through 150 versions to decide on the right one. Great design is simple if you work your ass off.

Step 2 Build a lot of early attention.

Sir Godin coordinated a free online ebook, What Matters Now,  of some of the best minds in business. What better way to get people thinking about your upcoming book launch?

Step 3 Connect with every major blogger you can think of

Everyone is writing about Sir Seth Godin this week. Why? Because Seth Godin is smart enough organize it this way. I can’t keep up with all of the guest posts and interviews he has done this week.

Step 4 Ride on the Momentum of Others

If you don’t think Seth Godin is smart enough, he also managed to be the first major author to announce his release on the expected Apple tablet. The tablet has been speculated on for months, what better horse to hook your wagon to?

Step 5 Offer bonuses and free content.

If the book was not enough in itself, Sir Seth Godin has managed to sweeten the deal.

Of course, we never expected anything less of Sir Seth. It just goes to show that even those at the top of their field are not afraid of hard work. In fact, it is that relentless work ethic and talent that made him the marketing guru of our age.

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We all know that sharing is everything in a social media world. The more we contribute and give, the more we can get noticed ourselves. The first instinct is to create new tools and platforms in order to try an become a destination for like minded people. We all want to own the platform or group. The problem is that so does every one else, and you can no longer ‘own’ a community.

Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, by creating your own Alltop clone, Digg clone, Facebook Clone or Twitter clone, it makes more sense to go out and use the tools that your customers are already using. Go to where they are instead of trying to bring them to you.

Edward Boches wrote about how Chris Brogan shares his social media case studies using delicious. No fancy new tools, development or marketing required. Just do what you are already doing and make it available to everyone. It is no extra work but it creates a lot of value for Chris’s audience.

Chris Brogan also has an Alltop page where he shares his favorite blogs.

Both take little time and cost to create but add a lot of value for his audience, including me. Are you sharing valuable content your customers and audience want to see? Are you helping to promote your favorite bloggers and companies? The first law of social media is that the more you give, the more you get.

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Edward Boches of Creativity_Unbound has a great article framing social media into real business objectives.

I don’t talk to clients about Social Media any more.

He has five ways to reframe the questions.

Want to improve your organic search results?
Start a blog.

Looking for a better way to conduct real time qualitative research?
Listen in on ongoing conversations on Twitter and Facebook.

Would you like more out of your advertising creative ideas?
Try a crowdsourcing contest.

Interested in stretching your media dollars?
Use embedded YouTube videos and encourage sharing.

Looking for ways to increase positive word of mouth?
Introduce all of your customers to each other, on your site, on Facebook and on Twitter.

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